The global palm oil market is set to be worth around $50 billion (€49.8 billion) by 2031, a new study by Fact.MR has found, growing at a CAGR of 4% between now and the end of the decade.
Currently, the palm oil market is valued at $33 billion (€32.9 billion), Fact.MR said, having risen at a CAGR of 4% between 2016 and 2020, before the market took a small dip due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
'Manufacturers are capitalising on the ever-increasing scope of palm oil across key industries, including foodservice, food processing and pharmaceutical sectors,' Fact.MR said. 'Furthermore, its use as a biofuel due to the presence of low sulphur and other noxious content is heightening its uptake in recent years.'
By product type, processed palm oil will account for 75% of the market by 2031, with virgin palm oil accounting for around a quarter of sales, the study found.
India will remain one of the primary consumers for palm oil, growing at a CAGR of 4% to 2031, while China will record a CAGR of 8% over the same period, according to Fact.MR.
Major Investment
Recent years have seen significant investment in palm oil production by major multinationals – in June 2021, Cargill announced a $200 million (€199.4 million) investment in a new palm oil refinery in Lampung, Indonesia, which the company said will help it expedite its efforts to build a sustainable palm supply chain and provide customers with verified deforestation-free products. Operations are expected to be completed in late 2022.
"This fully integrated supply chain offers our customers assurance that stringent production requirements and the highest product quality are achieved," Cargill Asia Pacific president Robert Aspell said at the time.
During the summer, Ahold Delhaize chief executive Frans Muller noted that the conflict in Ukraine had made it more difficult for firms to source sustainable palm oil, due to heightened demand.
"As the sunflower oil from Ukraine or Russia fell away, those countries have 60% lower production there. People are looking for replacing oils and, of course, there's more demand for palm oil," he said at a summit in Dublin.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest supply chain news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
